BlackBerry Classic already available online starting Rs 30,900

NEW DELHI: Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry launched the Classic in India today, priced at Rs 31,990, which has the original Qwerty keyboard, toggle button and touch screen, even as the company goes back to its roots as it attempts to get back to becoming a large contender in the burgeoning smartphone space.

Like the Passport was sold through Amazon when it was launched last year, which sold out quickly, the BlackBerry Classic will be sold through Snapdeal where first 1,000 buyers who already own BlackBerry Bold will get Rs 4,500 off when upgrading to the Classic. New buyers will also get benefits from Yatra.com of up to Rs 10,000.

A day before the launch on Thursday, the device was seen as available for purchase on on online seller eBay.in starting from Rs 30,900. But BlackBerry executives said the phones available online are imported and will not have supportive warranty from the company in India, cautioning buyers.

The Classic which is the second one from BlackBerry after it launched the much-awaited and differently-designed Passport late 2014, is aimed at appealing corporate or business users.

Going back to its roots with the Qwerty keyboard, physical navigation keys and track pad, BlackBerry Classic brings back characteristic features of older BlackBerry devices such as the Bold or Curve.

With a 3.5-inch touch square screen, dual-core processor running on 2GB RAM, 13 megapixel camera and BlackBerry 10 OS, the new LTE ready Classic may appeal more to the users who have to comb through hundreds of emails a day or write extensively, than Android or iPhone users who browse the internet as much as they play games on much larger screens.

The Canadian smartphone maker is attempting to tap mainly the corporate users with its productivity-led phones through Passport and now, Classic, coming a full circle to keyboards within a couple of years after shifting focus to retail consumers.

The Classic has signature OS 10.3.1 which features the BlackBerry Blend and virtual assistant BlackBerry Assistant.

Blackberry also launched BBM meetings on a monthly subscription of $12.50 which allows users to hold meetings or conference calls via mobile phones, irrespective of the type of smartphone and location.

The smartphone maker which was once amongst the top five at its peak, intends to revive its market share which fell dramatically over the last couple of years even as it competed with highly popular and comparatively inexpensive devices from Android, the dominant Google-backed OS and iPhone, which enjoys a far higher aspirational value.